System and method for maintaining a web site

Abstract

A system and method for maintaining a web site including the steps of an apparatus for importing web pages of a web site to a staging server, formatting templates for the web pages, assigning content tags and data types to fields of the templates and designating users for the fields. The templates are populated with input received from users and the populated templates are exported to one or more web servers.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A method of maintaining a web site, comprising: 
 importing one or more web pages of a web site to a staging server;    formatting templates for the web pages, the templates including one or more fields;    assigning one or more content tags to each of the fields;    assigning one or more data types to each of the fields;    designating one or more users for each of the fields;    receiving input from the users;    populating the templates with the received input; and    exporting the populated templates to one or more web servers.    
     
     
         2 . The method of    claim 1   , wherein the web pages, the received input and the populated templates are transmitted over a public network.  
     
     
         3 . The method of    claim 1   , wherein the content tags correspond to questions posed to the users.  
     
     
         4 . The method of    claim 1   , wherein populating the templates includes cycling through each of the web pages and replacing one or more of the fields with the received input.  
     
     
         5 . The method of    claim 1   , further comprising presenting the users with the populated templates.  
     
     
         6 . The method of    claim 1   , further comprising posting the populated templates to the web site.  
     
     
         7 . A method of updating a web site, comprising: 
 importing one or more web pages of a web site to a staging server;    formatting templates for one or more of the web pages;    prompting an end user to provide content for the web site;    populating the templates with the provided content;    providing the user with a preview of the populated templates;    exporting the populated templates to one or more web servers; and    posting the populated web pages to the web site.    
     
     
         8 . A method of updating a web site, comprising: 
 importing a web site to a staging computer system;    processing the web site to produce one or more templates for each page of the web site;    receiving input from end users;    populating the templates with the received input;    exporting the populated templates to one or more web servers; and    posting the populated templates to the web site.    
     
     
         9 . A web site management system, comprising: 
 means for importing one or more web pages of a web site to a staging server;    means for formatting templates for the web pages, the templates including one or more fields;    means for assigning one or more content tags to each of the fields;    means for assigning one or more data types to each of the fields;    means for designating one or more users for each of the fields;    means for receiving input from the users;    means for populating the templates with the received input; and    means for exporting the populated templates to one or more web servers.    
     
     
         10 . The system of    claim 9   , wherein the web pages, the received input and the populated templates are transmitted over a public network.  
     
     
         11 . The system of    claim 9   , wherein the content tags correspond to questions posed to the users.  
     
     
         12 . The system of    claim 9   , wherein means for populating the templates includes means for cycling through each of the web pages and replacing one or more of the fields with the received input.  
     
     
         13 . The system of    claim 9   , further comprising means for presenting the users with the populated templates.  
     
     
         14 . The system of    claim 9   , further comprising means for posting the populated templates to the web site.  
     
     
         15 . A web site management system for updating a web site, comprising: 
 means for importing one or more web pages of a web site to a staging server;    means for formatting templates for the web pages;    means for prompting an end user to provide content for the web site;    means for populating the templates with the provided content;    means for providing the user with a preview of the populated templates;    means for exporting the populated templates to one or more web servers; and    means for posting the populated web pages to the web site.    
     
     
         16 . A web site management system for updating a web site, comprising: 
 means for importing a web site to a staging computer system;    means for processing the web site to produce one or more templates for each page of the web site;    means for receiving input from end users;    means for populating the templates with the received input;    means for exporting the populated templates to one or more web servers; and    means for posting the populated templates to the web site.    
     
     
         17 . An article of manufacture for maintaining a web site, the article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium holding computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising: 
 importing one or more web pages of a web site to a staging server;    formatting templates for one or more of the web pages, the templates including one or more fields;    assigning one or more content tags to one or more of the fields;    assigning one or more data types to one or more of the fields;    designating one or more users for one or more of the fields;    receiving input from the users;    populating the templates with the received input; and    exporting the populated templates to one or more web servers.    
     
     
         18 . The article of manufacture of    claim 17   , wherein the web pages, the received input and the populated templates are transmitted over a public network.  
     
     
         19 . The article of manufacture of    claim 17   , wherein the content tags correspond to questions posed to the users.  
     
     
         20 . The article of manufacture of    claim 17   , wherein populating the templates includes cycling through each of the web pages and replacing one or more of the fields with the received input.  
     
     
         21 . The article of manufacture of    claim 17   , wherein the computer-executable instructions perform a method further comprising presenting the users with the populated templates.  
     
     
         22 . The article of manufacture of    claim 17   , wherein the computer-executable instructions perform a method further comprising posting the populated templates to the web site.  
     
     
         23 . An article of manufacture for updating a web site, the article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium holding computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising: 
 importing one or more web pages of a web site to a staging server;    formatting templates for the web pages;    prompting an end user to provide content for the web site;    populating the templates with the provided content;    providing the user with a preview of the populated templates;    exporting the populated templates to one or more web servers; and    posting the populated web pages to the web site.    
     
     
         24 . An article of manufacture for updating a web site, the article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium holding computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising: 
 importing a web site to a staging computer system;    processing the web site to produce one or more templates for each page of the web site;    receiving input from end users;    populating the templates with the received input;    exporting the populated templates to one or more web servers; and    posting the populated templates to the web site.